Melvin Ejim of Canada in action during the 2019 FIBA World Cup, first round match between Canada and Senegal at Dongguan Basketball Center on September 05, 2019 in Dongguan, China.Zhizhao Wu / Getty Images

SHANGHAI, China — The mood has changed rather definitively around Canada’s entry in the 2019 World Cup.

Back-to-back losses to Australia and Lithuania to begin the tournament had the Canadian side down in the dumps and eliminated from advancement in this World Cup.

But a win over Senegal followed by a beatdown of Jordan early Saturday morning at the start of classification with a game against Germany still to go and the Canadians are looking firmly, and optimistically ahead to next June’s Last Chance Olympic Qualifying tournament.

“It is something we’ve thought about for sure,” Canadian point guard Kevin Pangos said of the Last Chance Qualifier. “Obviously we wanted to qualify for that first (with a top-two finish among Americas teams here). After we knew we weren’t moving on this tournament it’s something we talked about. Now we got one more game here. Want to get the win of course. Then that’s the big tournament next summer.”

How that roster shakes out remains to be seen. There’s the possibility that a handful of the players that said ‘No’ to participating this summer will be available next year.

Even were that not to happen, this group, the group that said ‘Yes’ when their national team called, has been getting better every game they have played.

“When we lost the first two, the team was down,” Pangos said. “But I think getting two wins under our belt is definitely uplifting. We are feeling a little more positive. Now we just have to look forward. Get this win in a couple of days (against Germany) and then next summer is going to be the time we got for the Olympics. So we are focused on what is in front of us.”

BUILDING A WINNER

Nurse was asked what he thought it would take for Canada to get to the point like countries in Serbia and Lithuania where cohesion is built over a series of summer’s together.

“I think the biggest thing is I think we need an introduction, some of the guys need an introduction to the national team, right?” Nurse said. “I think the guys who are here right now have all played a little bit, continue to grow as they stay together, but some of the guys we need to see, I dunno, I guess they need to find out why or why not they’re . . . you know, why or why not they’re gonna play or commit to playing. If they’re gonna play, it needs to be like you said a five or six-year stretch. Because I think that you could do something special with a group of guys who stick together for five or six years.”

Nurse like many with a window into basketball in Canada and it’s growing popularity doesn’t want to see this current opportunity go to waste.

“I see it as a really interesting, unique time in Canada Basketball,” he said. “The talent’s really pouring out, the young talent continues to pour out, the Raptors had a pretty good season, the fan base, the people are interested all over the country in basketball, I think it’s an important time for a group of six, eight, 10 guys to stick together for five or six years.”

That would be the ideal blueprint for success. But it’s going to mean changing some minds and changing some attitudes if it’s ever going to become a reality.

DIFFERENT THAN DAD

Long-time national team player Greg Wiltjer wasn’t at Canada’s post-game press conference but his name came up.

Son Kyle, the player of the game with 29 points including seven made three pointers was asked if he was knocking his Dad out of the record books with his scoring.

“Oh, I mean I don’t know,” Wiltjer initially misunderstanding the question. “Probably. He was more of a rebounder. I thought you were going to hit me with a stat or something. I’ll talk a little smack tonight with him.”

Through four games at these Worlds, Wiltjer is averaging 16 points a game, just behind the 16.5 teammate Cory Joseph leads the Canadian side with.

THE POSTER PLAYER

Nurse was asked about Cory Joseph and his steady commitment to the National team program. He held him up as the poster player for what Canada should hope to have more of.

“I would say that Cory’s obviously one of our most talented players, and he’s been around for a long time,” Nurse said. “I think that’s the combination we’re looking for is the guys right at the top of their profession to commit to the national team like Cory’s done.

“And the bottom line is the guy can really guard and defend some of the best players, and he can score buckets and especially buckets late in the shot clock and late in the game so the few things that he does, let alone play every year, but the way he plays and the abilities that he has are really important to our team.”

QUICK HITS: How dominant was Canada over Jordan? Canada’s 24-made three pointers were three more than the total number of two-pointers the Jordanians made … Jordan never led in the game. Canada’s biggest lead actually reached 60 before they settled for the 55-point win … Joseph, who was frustrated beyond belief by some very questionable officiating in the first two games has not had more than two fouls in each of the past two games, both wins by Canada. He also had a team-best eight assists to go along with his 11 points.